The Dublin-based production company Rubberduck has created the first national advertising campaign for Topline, the nationwide group of independent builders merchants.
Called “We’re Behind Your Project”, the campaign is running across TV, VOD, YouTube, radio, digital audio, print and display.
Topline, which has operated in Ireland since 1972, represents 175 independently owned builders’ merchants across the 32 counties. The new campaign aims to increase awareness of the scale and heritage of the organisation while retaining the local identity of its individual members.
At the centre of the campaign is a film, Everything Changes, which traces more than five decades of Irish life while positioning Topline as a constant presence behind building, renovation and DIY projects.
The film moves through changing fashions, technology and economic cycles and includes references to familiar cultural and historical moments, including Ray Houghton’s goal against England, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Celtic Tiger construction boom.
These are juxtaposed with people building, repairing and improving their homes over the same period.
The film was directed by B+C, the Rubberduck directing duo of Ben Colwell and Conor Ryan. Era-specific production design, archive footage and VFX are used to move between the decades, with the visual treatment shifting from 16mm film to contemporary digital cinematography.
The wider campaign also includes a series of print executions featuring miniature worlds built around tools and construction materials. The work depicts tiny workers collaborating on DIY and trade projects as a visual interpretation of the “We’re Behind Your Project” positioning.
Radio executions take a more humorous approach, focusing on how apparently straightforward DIY jobs can quickly develop into something more complicated. The audio campaign is running across national and regional radio as well as RTÉ Player, Audio XI and the Farmers Journal podcast.
“This is a significant step for Topline as our first national campaign,” said Gerard Metzer, group marketing manager, Topline.
“We wanted to communicate the scale and Irish heritage of the organisation while staying true to what makes Topline different: independently owned local businesses that understand their customers and have been supporting projects in communities across Ireland for generations.
“‘Everything Changes’ captures that in a warm, memorable and distinctly Irish way.”
Dillon Elliott, who led the creative strategy and copywriting across the campaign, said the challenge was to make the history of the organisation relevant to contemporary consumers.
“Topline’s scale and heritage are already there, but that story has not always been visible to consumers,” he said.
“‘Everything Changes’ gave us a way to make more than 50 years of history feel human rather than corporate. By watching Ireland, our homes and the projects within them change across the decades, Topline’s role as the constant becomes clear.”
Credits
Client: Topline
CEO: Hugh O’Donnell
Group Marketing Manager: Gerard Metzer
Marketing Administrator: Charlotte Somers
Production Company: Rubberduck
Creative Strategy and Copywriting: Dillon Elliott
Producers: Helen Barry Duke and Jenni Barry Duke
Directors: B+C
Production Coordinator: Therese Shannon
Casting: SG Casting
1st AD: Jonny Shaw
Director of Photography: Naryan Van Maele
Production Designer: Lauren Kelly
Stylist: Suzie Coen
Editor: Koleman Angle
VFX: Emmet O’Farrell / Raygun
Grade: Leandro Arouca / Raygun
Sound Mix: Colm O’Rourke / Raygun
Music Supervisor: John McCallion
Print Art Direction and Design: Kirk Bannon
Print Finish Artist: James Carr
Print CGI: Illusion
Media: Performance Media
